The ethnic map of the Caucasian periphery of the Hun state: the Sorosges, the Acatirs and the “Huns” of the Eastern Caucasus

The author takes the view that a massive incursion of the steppe people to the Transcaucasia in 441 recorded by many written sources (Priscus of Panium, Egishe, Life of Theophilos, etc.) was made by Attila's Huns. This raid and several later marches of the Huns to the Transcaucasia were made through mountain passes in the central part ofthe Greater Caucasus and the Derbent pass. These facts demonstrate that Attila controlledthe countries abutting these passes in the north. Analysis of the sources has shown thatthe placement of the Acatirs near the Pontic region by Priscus of Panium implies thathe had a poor knowledge of the Caucasus geography. Priscus was not even aware of theCaspian Sea; for this reason he used Pontus as a reference point for localizing the Acatirs.Analysis of his accounts of the routes used by the Saragurs when they marched on theCaucasus (463) and their wars against the Acatirs shows that the Pontic localizationof the Acatirs is very unlikely. The localization of the Acatirs by Jordanes (or, moreprecisely, by his source) also raises a lot of questions, as he repeats what was written byPriscus of Panium, while the relevant part of his ethnogeographic foray is far-fetched(A. N. Anfertyev). The most acceptable concept is the localization of this population inthe North-West Caspian Sea maritime region. It may be suggested that the Sorosges whosubmitted to Attila spoke the Iranian language and, probably, inhabited the central partof the North Caucasus.